Chapter 45

Level Up Heretic Inquisitor – Episode 45 (45/227)

Episode 45: Silence Falls (Part 1)

The corpse of the archer that had been squished flat by Batora.

As always, Ail hung her body from a tree branch.

The flames of the stake that had been burning fiercely had now died down to embers, leaving only the task of claiming rewards.

Descending from the tree, he approached the fallen Batora and began looting items.

Having taken down a minimum 3-player recommended boss monster all by himself, without needing to share, various pieces of equipment, junk items, and gold poured into his inventory.

Among them, the first thing that caught his eye was a sleek set of light armor.

A two-piece top-and-bottom set item.

Not only was it a usable ‘Advanced’ grade item, but it also slightly boosted strength stats and came with a damage reduction set option, making it quite useful among armors.

While a full 5-piece set including gloves, boots, and hat would be stronger, getting a matching pair in just one loot was already satisfying.

It was definitely superior to the regular-grade armor he had been wearing.

He swapped out his current non-set Advanced-grade gloves along with the rest of his gear.

Thankfully, there’s no need for an embarrassing outdoor strip show when changing equipment.

“Well, not bad at all.”

Unfortunately, no skillbooks or rare-grade equipment dropped from Batora.

But looking at the total value of all the loot, it was far from disappointing. Besides, he already had a suitable 20th level skillbook from a dungeon run.

And most importantly, his rewards weren’t over yet.

A faint glow emanated from the charred remains of Beken and his companion tied to the stake.

Naturally, there was no reason to leave such loot behind, and the archer’s items had already been claimed long ago.

Approaching the stake, Ail diligently gathered up the weapons, armor, potions, and money from their possessions.

Though lacking any standout single item, this proved once again why Player vs Player could be such a profitable venture after boss raids.

Combined with the loot from Batora, selling these at the auction house and shops should keep him in gold for a while.

But then, as Ail absentmindedly scrolled through his loot list, his hand suddenly stopped.

Among Beken’s spoils was something that piqued his interest.

“What’s this…?”

Picking up the pure white feather from his inventory, he could feel its soft texture.

At first glance, it seemed like a crafting material, but this was actually a quest item called “Feather of Emergency.”

There was a good chance it connected to some new quest like last time.

Finding the item strangely familiar, Ail inspected it curiously.

But nothing immediately came to mind, so he decided to look into it later.

For now, clearing up this mess before anyone arrived took priority.

Pulling out his dissection knife, Ail immediately began processing Batora’s corpse with practiced efficiency.

SPLAT! SPLAT!

Chunks of flesh separated effortlessly under his skilled hands, filling his inventory with various drops.

With everything successfully looted, the messy remains of Batora’s dismembered body remained.

Though shredded into pieces, the sheer size of the creature meant the remains were still substantial.

The numerous sentient beings fused together gave it a disturbingly lifelike wriggling appearance.

After briefly pondering, Ail gathered up the remains.

Using stakes produced from somewhere, he impaled chunks of the corpse around the area, creating displays of judgment.

While questionable whether this served any real purpose, he figured the Goddess he knew would appreciate such touches.

“Hmm…”

Taking one last look at the grisly scene filled with evidence of his passage before leaving, Ail surveyed his work.

Leaving behind signs of slaughter certainly looked strange.

Yet gazing at the dangling corpses hanging everywhere gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.

“Today’s hunt was pretty productive… Got that kind of feeling, you know?”

In high spirits from how well things went, Ail whistled cheerfully as he headed toward the city of Kembel.

* * *

“Hey hey, check this out! There’s a sequel!”

“Sequel? What are you talking about?”

Three students walking together in school uniforms, the one on the right shoved his smartphone at his friends.

The screen showed the infamous video of the crazy player from Queen’s Blonde who had burned users alive.

Though they’d already seen it multiple times in group chats, this video was different.

Unlike previous ones filmed from various angles in Queen’s Blonde, this one featured entirely new footage from another location.

Something new related to those events must have happened.

Indeed, the video captured an entirely different incident, even more gruesome than before.

Shadowy woods filled with countless monster corpses hanging from trees, strung up by ropes, impaled on spears, brutally beaten, or mutilated beyond recognition.

“Wow…”

The students gasped at the horror movie-like visuals.

Even just seeing it in pictures was chilling, considering this all took place in an already dark and creepy field.

Accidentally stumbling upon this in Warode would be truly terrifying.

Unlike the Queen’s Blonde incident where the perpetrator had already left, this video briefly captured the culprit calmly walking away.

The cameraman didn’t pursue further, likely frightened, but many noticed the mysterious figure revealed.

What made the atmosphere particularly unsettling wasn’t just the displayed corpses.

Every victim was processed in bizarre ways, leaving behind unmistakable marks of the Light Church.

The burned bodies on stakes bore the same church symbol scorched into the ground as before.

Poisoned monsters developed necrotic skin forming text like tattoos, covering their bodies with hymns and scripture praising the Goddess.

Regardless of method, both users and monsters alike were left with disturbing traces of the Light Church.

Comments below unanimously declared this the first time such meticulous and unhinged behavior had been seen since Warode launched.

Even jaded viewers were shocked by this unprecedented performance.

Some went as far as calling it art rather than attention-seeking, praising the dedication.

“Whoa, this is insane!”

“Is there more?”

Their friends eagerly pressed for more.

Unfortunately, the forest of Ingol was all the video contained.

“Man, this is seriously cool.”

“Really? Isn’t this guy completely crazy?”

“It’s just a game. The walking away scene looks pretty badass though.”

“Yeah, but still…”

Jittery camera angles, labored breathing, the forest filled with corpses, and the towering figure walking away – somehow it all came together perfectly, thrilling many viewers.

While opinions remained split between impressed and disturbed, it was still just a game after all.

“Still, imagining someone like this walking around normally outside is creepy, isn’t it? Picture sharing the sidewalk with someone who does this stuff in-game.”

“That’s true.”

COUGH COUGH!

The man walking behind them suddenly coughed.

The cap-wearing college-aged man hurried past them, seeming oddly uneasy.

Noticing his awkward behavior, one student remarked to his friend:

“That guy kinda looks like the back view, doesn’t he?”

“What? That’s ridiculous… Wait, really?”

* * *

“Whaaaat… When did they film this?”

Ail muttered unconsciously as he passed the students with his head bowed low.

He had merely stepped out to buy supplies after running out of food during a break from playing, never expecting to overhear people discussing him.

While he had been aware of the viral Queen’s Blonde video, he hadn’t been keeping up with gaming news like before due to investing more time in actual gameplay.

However, knowing the importance of information, Ail still checked for updates during travel and brief breaks between hunts.

Given this habit, there was no way he could have missed the major buzz surrounding the Queen’s Blonde incident among players.

Still, Ail was somewhat flustered now.

Not only had his departure been fully captured despite his precautions, but what he thought would be a fleeting trend had grown much bigger.

Initially surprised by how perfectly his actions had become a huge topic, Ail assumed the attention would fade quickly without new developments.

But with new images released now, the situation had completely changed.

It was like adding fuel to a smoldering fire, ensuring the attention wouldn’t die down anytime soon.

At least his face hadn’t been revealed, which was fortunate.

“I’ll have to be careful not to get labeled as crazy somewhere…”